BT Sport wins Formula E highlights race

BT Sport is to televise extensive highlights of all 10 rounds of the 2014/2015 FIA Formula E Championship in the UK, joining ITV – which has the live rights – in providing coverage of the electric single-seater car race series inaugurated by motorsport’s governing body.

In a deal brokered by the international media company MP &Silva, BT Sport will air a 60-minute programme in the week after each race. All shows will feature comprehensive coverage of the race, together with a round-up of the event’s practice and qualifying sessions, plus all the latest news, features and driver interviews.

Since its launch in August 2013, BT Sport has established its commitment to motorsport with coverage of MotoGP, the FIA World Rally Championship, World Series by Renault, IndyCar and V8 Supercars.

Ali Russell, Director of Media at Formula E, noting the deal was in addition to a live coverage arrangement with commercial free-to-air broadcaster ITV, described it as “a bonus” for fans in the UK as they now had not one but two channels to watch the FIA Formula E Championship. “BT Sport has really hit the ground running with an ever increasing number of subscribers and world-class coverage.”

BT Sport channels are available across various subscription platforms including BT TV, the Sky Digital Satellite Platform and Virgin Media, and, are free for all BT Broadband customers.

BT Sport joins previously announced broadcasters FOX Sports, TV Asahi, ITV4, Canal+ and CCTV in China who have all committed to showing live coverage of Formula E races. The FOX Sports deal alone covers 88 territories around the world and a potential global audience of 180 million households, whilst TV Asahi boasts a household reach of 51.4 million.

ITV4 is available to almost 26.2 million homes in the UK with an estimated weekly audience of 10.6 million. CCTV is the principal state broadcaster in mainland China with a network of 45 channels – the largest number of television sub-channels in the world – and a potential reach of 200,427,000 people. Meanwhile, Canal+ has a current estimated household reach of six million homes.